Disappointed by the Samsung NV3's lack of an optical viewfinder, my dad asked me to find a different one. But how to pick from the hundred's (or so it seems) of models?
By coincidence, the FutureShop email flyer arrived the next day, featuring a $120 off Canon's SD-700 digital camera. In its picture, I noticed the telltale gleam of the optical viewfinder. The specs matched my dad's wishlist, nearly:
- slim and good looking, though not as slim as the NV3.
- bigger zoom at 4x.
- big LCD screen.
- optical viewfinder.
- takes movies.
The one flaw: it is not rechargeable via the computer USB port. And it included a memory card with a mere 16MB capacity. (With 512MB cards going for $10, this Canon card costs 65 cents, proportionately.)
But my dad liked the camera enough to buy it, and had me install its software on his notebook computer. I had a problem getting the XP-based computer recognizing the camera. In desperation, I read the manual, and found that the camera needs to be in Playback mode to be recognized. Now everything worked.
USB Charging
His concern was that these cameras use proprietary batteries, which require their own proprietary chargers. He can't just pop in a pair of standard rechargeable AA batteries. And he lives 50/50, half the year up north, half down south. It's a pain to remember all the cables for all the gadgets. USB charging is one answer.
The other is to get a second charger and spare battery. Canon Canada charges around $70 for each. (Who buys at those prices?) I did one minute's worth of research to find a third-party battery supplier, and ordered all at once:
- spare battery and charger for my dad's new Canon ($17 each).
- spare battery for my new Samsung camera ($10).
- spare battery for my son's new-old Canon ($12).
Yah, my dad sold me the brand-new Samsung NV3 that he didn't want anymore. Gave me a $50 discount.
And he gave his old Canon S100 to my son.
So that leaves him with the Toshiba and its 10x zoom lens, along with the brand-new Canon SD-600 and its compact size.
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